


One Plus One Equals Infinity

by bladespark



Series: Hylian Mathematics [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: M/M, Memory Related, Mental Health Issues, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 12:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17867480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bladespark/pseuds/bladespark
Summary: Sheik and Link shared a pair of brief kisses.  But what comes after?  With Link and Zelda--and therefore Sheik--trapped in an endless cycle of conflict and rebirth, must destiny play out exactly as it always has, or can they defy destiny and fight together?





	One Plus One Equals Infinity

**Author's Note:**

> My therapist assigned me to write this story, funnily enough. Or a story about some of the things in this story, at least. I think it worked as intended, too. some things crystallized in the writing.
> 
> I have a personal headcanon that it's a half-memory of being Sheik and/or fighting at Link's side that's why Zelda is more of a fighter in Twilight Princess than in most Zelda games, as that would have happened after all this, since this is in Ocarina, if kinda a mildly AU version of it.

Link sat and watched the setting sun, the light of the fire before him seeming to grow brighter as the sunlight faded away. Sheik sat next to him, staring into the flames. They were sitting close enough to touch, and some time ago Link had dared to rest his hand on Sheik's knee, where it remained.

It was hard to believe he was doing that, daring to touch the mysterious, prophecy-laden shadow mage so intimately. It was even harder to believe that they'd kissed not so long ago. The memory of that kiss felt shocking. Every bit as shocking as today's revelation that Sheik was not some perfect paragon of power and knowledge, that he was in fact just as flawed as Link; that he struggled just as hard as Link.

Something about that broke down the distance that had always stood between them. They were no longer a struggling victim of destiny and to the inscrutable instrument of that destiny, but two fellow-warriors, both doing the best they could. That thought sparked a daring little flutter of something in Link's heart, something that wanted more than just fellow-warriors, something that wanted more kisses, and things other than kisses, too.

As the last of the sunlight vanished, Link rose and set about laying out his bedroll. The exhaustion that had been held at bay as he cooked and ate—and kissed—now came back full force, and he yawned, feeling almost too tired to even crawl in amid the blankets.

Sheik smiled down at him. "I'll keep watch while you rest."

"Thank you," said Link softly. He managed to climb beneath the blankets, and no sooner were his eyes closed than he was out, sleeping a deep sleep of utter exhaustion.

****

Link woke, and found the sun was high in the sky. He felt blissfully rested, he couldn't even remember when he'd last gotten this much sleep. He stretched, and became aware of a weight across his feet. He blinked, and looked down to find Sheik was asleep, with his head pillowed on Link.

Considering his options, Link regarded the young man asleep at his feet. If he rose, he might disturb Sheik. He should just stay here and let Sheik rest. Sheik had said that there wasn't any immediate urgency and that resting wouldn't cause any disaster, so he could wait a bit longer.

Even as he thought that, though, Sheik stirred and blinked his eyes open. He looked at Link and his cheeks suddenly flushed bright red. "I'm sorry! I did stay up through the night and kept the stahlchildren from attacking, but you were still asleep at sunrise and I didn't want to wake you, and I didn't really mean to sleep, but-"

"It's fine," said Link, smiling. Sheik's flustered blush was somehow charming. He was proving to be a very different person than Link had originally assumed, but Link didn't think he minded.

Link rose and began to gather up his things. Sheik rose as well, and watched, looking a little uncertain, as Link tidied up the camp.

"I should go," he finally said, as Link tucked the last of his gear away.

Link felt a flicker of dismay go through him. "Do you have to?" he asked, feeling his cheeks flush faintly as he did.

Sheik sighed again, unhappily. "I'm supposed to. I'm not the hero, I'm not meant to stay with you and fight with you. That's not how this is supposed to play out."

Link frowned faintly at Sheik. "And who says that?"

Sheik blinked at him. "It's just the way things are. The Sheikah aid, we don't fight directly."

"Why?"

Sheik blinked more, looking confused and startled. "I... Uh... It's just the way it's always been. The prophecies say you're the hero, not me."

"What happens if you ignore the way it is, and do things some other way?"

"I don't know." Sheik shook his head, his expression utterly baffled and confused.

Link reached out, putting his hand on Sheik's shoulder. The Sheikah was shorter than he, though not by much. That still seemed odd, after how much of a larger than life figure he'd been to Link for so long. "I'd like to find out. I'd like it if you stayed. If you have a reason to go, or if you really want to go you can, or course, but..." He gave Sheik a small smile, and felt the daring flutter in his heart burning a little bit brighter. "I'd like it if you stayed."

Sheik looked at him for a long time, a parade of emotions crossing his face. He seemed pleased, but also uncertain or even afraid. "I... I don't know."

"Sheik... I know there's a destiny that's driving us, and that destiny says that I have to face Ganondorf. But does it say I have to face him alone?" Link knew that more than a little emotion was showing in his voice, but he couldn't help himself. He didn't want to be alone. He didn't want to just grit his teeth and stride on courageously towards his destiny.

"Oh, Link." Sheik's face was filled with a sudden compassion. "No, of course not. I'll go with you, and to hell with the way it's always been."

"Thank you." Link hugged Sheik, pulling him in close, unable to help himself. After how tired, how overwhelmed, how alone he'd felt for so long the idea of having someone there with him, someone like Sheik who he liked and admired, was beyond good. Sheik didn't seem to mind, though, he put his own arms around Link and hugged him back.

They clung to each other for a long time, and Link wasn't even sure which of them shifted towards it first, but moments later they were kissing again. The feel of Sheik's lips against Link's was electrifying, sending a tingling heat through his whole body. He wanted it to go on forever, but of course it couldn't, and eventually they broke apart. Link could see that Sheik's cheeks were flushed red, and he was sure his own were as well.

Sheik cleared his throat. "Ah. We should move on."

Link nodded, and whistled for Epona. He'd have gotten his ocarina, but he could see that she hadn't wandered in the night. Sheik donned his mask again, as Link stowed his gear and mounted up. He looked down at Sheik with a smile and held out his hand. "Come on."

Sheik blinked up at him, obviously having not thought this part of agreeing to accompany Link through. "I don't know how to ride."

"That's fine. You just have to hang on to me." Link smiled and beckoned. Sheik looked dubious, but he took Link's hand and got up behind him easily enough. Link decided he didn't mind this one bit as Sheik pressed close to his back, putting his arms around Link's waist. Link nudged Epona forward, feeling a warm glow within him as they headed south, towards his next goal.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity he felt something that like happy. His destiny still hung over him, but he no longer had to face it alone, and that made all the difference.

****

"That was just about the easiest time I've ever had in one of these things," said Link as he stepped out of the Spirit Temple, with Sheik at his side. "Thank you!"

"I can't believe I just actually did all that." Sheik was wide-eyed and a little bit wild. They'd just finished fighting the pair of powerful black witches who'd guarded the temple, and it had been beyond amazing to have Sheik there so that Link couldn't get caught between the two of them. Not to mention how helpful he'd been in reaching various things, and how much use his shadow magic had been in finding the right path through.

"You were great. I'm very, very glad you decided to come with me." Link caught Sheik up in a hug, and then kissed him, hard. Sheik kissed back with matching enthusiasm, and when Link pulled back he said softly, "I'm just not glad because it made the fight easier. I'm glad of your company."

Sheik's cheeks were red, but he said, "I'm glad too," and then kissed Link again.

They made their way back across the desert, and found Epona again, and rode on until night fell once more. They set up camp then, on the edge of Hyrule Field, with the cliffs that bordered on the Gerudo lands at their backs. As the last of the sunset light vanished, the firelight painted the cliff walls red, and the pair sat side by side, eating their stew, Epona browsing contentedly nearby. Link felt contented as he seldom had in his life. He'd always been the Boy Without a Fairy, out of place amid the people he thought of as his own, and then prophecy had shoved him into a new life that had felt even more ill-fitting than the old.

He still wasn't sure he was really a hero, but he was starting to make his peace with being a Hylian, and with Sheik at his side his destiny seemed somehow less overwhelming.

Sheik, sitting beside him, pulled a small object from his pocket and rubbed it between his fingers. His eyes were half-closed, his expression distant.

"Sheik?" Link, sitting beside him, reached out and touched his arm lightly.

Sheik started. "Oh, sorry. I was just remembering." He took one hand off of the object he'd held between them, revealing a smooth stone with a divot on one side. "This is a memory stone. It has a minor spell to aid in recalling one's past."

"What were you remembering?"

"Impa, my teacher. She was the closest thing I had to a mother," said Sheik softly.

Link squeezed Sheik's leg. He knew that Impa still lived, he'd met her at the Shadow Temple not long past. But being a sage was something otherwordly, something that took one away from ordinary life. He'd felt that loss himself when his childhood friend and mentor Saria had become a sage. So he knew what Sheik was feeling, at least in part. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Sheik just shrugged.

Link patted his arm a little awkwardly, not knowing what else to say or do. Sheik smiled and put his hand over Link's. "Thank you. Is there anyone you'd like to remember?"

Link didn't even have to pause to think, he instantly said, "Yes." Sheik had spoken of Impa as the closest to a mother he'd know, but Link had never known a mother at all. He'd had one, though. The Great Deku Tree had spoken of her. If he could remember just a moment, just the shape of her face or the sound of her voice, anything at all... 

Sheik held out the stone, and Link took it. It was warm and smooth in his hands, and his fingers immediately found the depression on one side of it and rubbed against it, without consciously meaning to. A faint tingling transmitted itself from the stone, a tentative sense of power. There was real magic here.

Link tried to cast his mind as far back as he could. Before life among the Kokiri. He had no memories of such a time, but he knew it had existed. _All the way back,_ he thought to himself, focusing his will on the stone. _All the way, to the very beginning of everything._

There was some form of resistance. What he wanted wasn't easily available. He threw himself against it, demanding. _All the way back,_ he repeated in his mind. _The earliest possible memory. That is what I want._

There was a sense of crumbling, of giving way within his mind, and suddenly memory flooded over him. The memory he wanted was there, a ghostly contact, a wisp of a voice singing, the image of a woman's face, but it was swept away by memories that had come before it; hundreds and thousands of them, centuries' worth of recollection, all pouring into his mind in an instant, overwhelming his senses, flooding his whole being with the past.

He was vaguely aware of his body convulsing, of Sheik grabbing him and pulling him back so he didn't fall into the fire, but that was entirely secondary to the torrent of memories rushing into his mind. His hands closed convulsively over the stone and his eyes rolled back as he fell to the ground. Sheik let out a cry of shock, but Link didn't even hear it, he was lost in the past. Lost in battles, in violence and struggle, in his many lives and in his own death, over and over and over again.

It was a past the was echoed repeatedly, its bones already familiar just from the single life he'd recalled mere moments ago. Names and faces were different, the exact shape of Hyrule changed as centuries went by, again and again, repeated down the years, were Zelda and Ganon. The latter took different names and different forms when he could, but they were always the same in the end, always the gloating avatar of Power. And Zelda...

Slowly Link dragged some hint of awareness, some consciousness, free of the torrent. He looked up to see Sheik's anxious face peering down at him. "Link? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

That face was so very, very familiar, even under its mask. Link knew a hundred variations on it. He reached up to Sheik, the stone falling from his hands, his fingers brushing Sheik's cheek. "Zelda?"

Sheik's eyes went wide in shock. "I..."

"It is you. It's always been you. So many times you've been there..."

"Link? I don't understand."

"I remembered. I..." Link shuddered. He tried to pull himself upright, his body trembling beneath the weight of memory. "I'm so tired, Zelda. Sheik. So tired. I've done this so many times, I'm not sure I can do it again." Link found tears were gathering in his eyes.

Sheik, still looking baffled, wrapped his arms around Link. "I'm here. Whatever's wrong, I'll help if I can," he said. Link shuddered, and buried his face against Sheik's shoulder, weeping on him for the second time in as many weeks. It went on for what seemed like forever. Every time Link thought he might be starting to regain some calm the weight of all those hundreds of years, all those pointless, futile, endless battles, all those meaningless deaths, his and those of the people he hadn't been able to save, came crashing back down on him and he began weeping again.

Sheik held him tightly through it all, stroking his hair, murmuring soft, soothing nonsense. 

Finally the tears dried up, leaving Link feeling even more exhausted than he'd already felt. A bleak emptiness echoed through him, as if he'd been hollowed out, all those memories passing through him having torn him open, spilled his self out somehow. They were a crushing weight on his mind, a confusing churn of the past, but his heart felt completely empty, his body numb.

"I can't go on," he said. "I just can't."

"Link? What happened?"

"I remembered. I remembered the past, all of it, from the very first hero."

Sheik drew in a sharp breath. "Then it's true, that the hero is always the same hero?"

"Yes. And so are you. Both of us, trapped in this same repeating conflict, fighting the demon of Power forever. Every victory is only a delay, every defeat an era of darkness before another rebirth and another fight. It will never end. But I... I can't. I just can't. It's too much."

Sheik looked at him, at the utterly hopeless expression on Link's face. His expression flickered, different emotions crossing it in rapid succession. Then it hardened in suddenly firmness. "Don't, then. Let's leave. You can stop being the hero and I can stop being...whoever it is that I am, and we can get on Epona's back and ride until we reach a place where they've never heard of the Triforce."

"I..." Link swallowed hard. It was the obvious solution, wasn't it? If he couldn't be the hero anymore then he could just...not be. But that wasn't really an option was it? There was an odd relief as that thought fully settled into his mind. If he left, and took Zelda with him, Hyrule would be left to Ganondorf's mercy, and he simply couldn't do that.

The very earliest of his memories floated into his mind suddenly, of how he'd chosen to fight, even when it was a hopeless, solitary battle against a god, in defense of a people who'd abused and betrayed him. He remembered that first heady flush of courage, all those centuries ago.

He'd died soon after, falling even in his moment of victory, to begin the endless cycle of rebirth and renewed conflict.

Yet he _had_ been victorious. If he were permitted to go back to that moment, to choose to refuse the sword and let those who'd so abused him die at the dark god's hands, he would still chose the same, even knowing how it would all end.

"No," said Link. He sighed heavily. "I said I couldn't go on, but I am even less able to flee. I can't betray myself. I chose to die to save Hyrule once, and I've chosen the same way ever since. I have to chose it again. It's not even a choice, truly, it's who I am. I suppose... I suppose the only choice I have is whether or not I accept that." He looked up at Sheik and said softly, gently, "You've chosen the same, Zelda. I remember. The thought of you has often been all that kept me fighting. And your company in times of peace has been one of the few sweet things in this bitter struggle. The fact that you've been with me through all these lives has been the one thing that's made it all worth it."

"Oh, Link." Sheik hugged him tightly, almost fiercely.

"Zelda...Sheik? I don't know which to call you..."

Sheik shrugged. "I don't know either. Sheik for now, I guess. It's who I'm trying to be, as much as I can."

"Sheik then. But...will you stay with me? I have fought alone so often... I don't want to fight alone this time." He looked at Sheik, seeing the ghosts of past Zeldas in his face. Seldom, so seldom, Zelda had fought at his side. Fate seemed to want them to be apart. Even that very first time Link had fought alone, for the One who had been Zelda in that long ago had had other tasks to complete. Yet she had come in the end, when he lay dying, and promised him that she would be with him in the life to come. She had kept that promise, but only in bits and pieces, for they had mostly only found time for each other when the battle had ended, when peace had finally been wrested from blood and darkness. Link didn't want to fight on alone anymore, and he didn't want to wait until Ganondorf was defeated to have Zelda—to have Sheik—by his side.

Sheik smiled, his eyes, ruby and alien and yet bearing such a familiar warmth, meeting Link's. "I'll stay. I don't remember whatever it is that you remember. But I'll stay, through the fight, and whatever comes after, even if it's a thousand lifetimes more."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> P.S. If you'd like to see me talk about writing, my works in progress, other creative endeavors, and my life in general, check out [my Dreamwidth blog](https://bladespark.dreamwidth.org/).)


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